Top Labor Lawyers Near Me in Annapolis Area

Susan Stobbart Shapiro is a director of Council Baradel.  Susan leads the firm’s labor and employment practice, and its cyber security and information privacy practice.  She has been representing businesses and executives for over 20 years.. Susan has extensive experience advising business owners on preventing and defending employee complaints and lawsuits and other business matters including:  contract disputes, non-competes and trade secrets, harassment, discrimination and retaliation, wage and hour and wage payment, National Labor Relations Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, employee handbooks, torts, cyber risk, data breach, information privacy and related matters.  Susan is certified by the International Association of Privacy Professionals as a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US).. Susan has successfully represented her clients in state and federal courts, before administrative agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights and various professional licensing boards, as well as in alternative dispute resolutions.. Susan is regularly asked to speak before business and legal groups such as the American Bar Association, Chesapeake Regional Tech Council, Maryland State Bar Association, and Anne Arundel Bar Association, regarding the intersection of technology and employment law and other legal issues.  She is a regular contributor to the Anne Arundel Bar Association’s publication, The Barrister, and she tweets and blogs about legal issues facing the employer in today’s changing business world.

Prior to law school, Francisco worked as a Forensic Analyst for a Computer Forensics firm in downtown Manhattan. During his participation in several highly confidential investigations, Francisco realized that he wanted to become an attorney. So, he took the LSAT and moved to D.C. to attend law school. After three years, Francisco returned home and began working as a prosecutor for the Kings County (think Brooklyn), New York District Attorney’s Office. There, he was ranked in the top 10% of attorneys office-wide and orchestrated the largest takedown of one gang in Kings County history.. You could say Francisco’s time in New York was a bit like the Law and Order TV shows. He says that his work as a prosecutor in the Gang Division is always a great topic for cocktail parties. Some of the stories include heinous crimes caught on video, gang culture/language, and the time a gang leader put out a “hit” on Francisco. After resigning from the DA’s office, Francisco moved to the less-dangerous (depending on who you ask) world of civil practice. There, he focused on complex litigation and serving as outsourced General Counsel to businesses, celebrities, and even royalty. Additionally, Francisco served as a Senior Associate Attorney at two mid-sized firms in Manhattan. In this capacity, he litigated on behalf of New York-area hospitals and physicians in their defense of medical malpractice claims.. Throughout his professional practice in New York and the DMV-area, Francisco was selected as the first non-City University of New York (CUNY) graduate to serve as an attorney mentor in their attorney incubator program. He was also selected by New York City to provide low and pro bono counsel to City Counsel constituents in Bronx County. He has lectured, in English and Spanish, in NYC public schools to educate students, parents, and faculty, on topics ranging from cyber-bullying to civil rights. He has also been extensively involved with nonprofits to educate minorities about immigration consequences and how their status may be affected by criminal charges.. As if that weren’t enough, he was also a prosecutorial volunteer for Project Safe Surrender, a government-organized community-based initiative geared toward clearing open warrants to reduce case backlogs. Francisco has also served as a Lubin Alumni Association Board of Director for his alma mater, Pace University.. His academic stats are equally impressive. Francisco graduated from Pace University in New York City with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance, followed by his Juris Doctorate from Catholic University Columbus School of Law in Washington, D.C.. Even with all of these accomplishments, his mother is most proud (even though she may never admit it publicly) of his television appearances as a legal expert on Univision and Telemundo. Recently, Francisco was featured in the Washington Lawyer Magazine for his pro-bono efforts to defend peaceful protestors from unlawful arrest, following the death of George Floyd. That article is now taped onto his parent’s refrigerator.

Nicole Harris-Crest joined Smithey Law Group, LLC as an associate in 2021, where she focuses exclusively on employment and labor law issues. Ms. Harris-Crest has a wide breadth of experience, having worked as a litigator, city government executive, and nonprofit leader.. Ms. Harris-Crest is a native of Maryland and completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Richmond. Ms. Harris-Crest graduated magna cum lade from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 2013 where she served as a member of the Frederick Douglass Moot Court team and a Rule 16 student attorney in the Family Law Clinic. Ms. Harris-Crest previously interned with the Honorable Alexander Williams, Jr. at the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. Prior to joining Smithey Law Group, LLC, Ms. Harris-Crest worked for the Office of the State’s Attorney for Baltimore City as the Chief of External Affairs, where she oversaw four agency divisions, advocating on behalf of victims and witnesses of crime, educating the community regarding the criminal justice system, and creating preventive measures to reduce crime. Ms. Harris-Crest also worked as a litigation attorney to Miles & Stockbridge, P.C. and Executive Director to the Maryland Alliance of Public Charter Schools where she advocated on behalf of school system policies and state laws to provide more Maryland students with quality educational options.

Matthew is originally from South Carolina.  After graduation from college, he worked with the Kmart Kids Race Against Drugs Program traveling the country raising money for drug and alcohol awareness programs.  Matthew moved from Las Vegas to Maryland in 2001 to attend the University of Maryland School of Law.  While in law school, Matthew clerked at the Orphans’ Court for Baltimore County and in June 2003 joined Bagley & Rhody, P.C. as a law clerk.  Upon admission to the bar in December 2004, Matthew became an associate with Bagley & Rhody, P.C.. Matthew's practice focuses on estate planning, probate, and estate and trust litigation.  Matthew heads the firm's probate practice.  He has appeared in litigation before the Orphans' Court, District Court and Circuit Court throughout the State of Maryland in matters such as Will contests, trustee/personal representative removal actions, inter vivos actions such as deed nullification, accounting actions and breach of fiduciary duty matters.  Matthew has also appeared before the Maryland Court of Special Appeals and Court of Appeals.

Joyce Smithey is the Managing Partner of Smithey Law Group LLC. In 2025, Ms. Smithey was once again selected for inclusion as a Maryland Super Lawyer in the area of Labor and Employment Law. Ms. Smithey has also been named among Maryland’s Top 50 Women Attorneys and Top 100 Attorneys multiple times, as published in Baltimore Magazine. She was also an honoree of Baltimore’s SmartCEO’s 2016 Centers of Influence award, and is a multi-time recipient of The Daily Record’s Leadership in Law Award and The Daily Record’s Top 100 Women in Maryland. She is also Band 1 top ranked in Chambers USA, and Law Dragon has recognized her as one of the 500 Leading Plaintiff Employment & Civil Rights Lawyers in the nation. Bethesda Magazine has also recognized Ms. Smithey as a Top Attorney in 2021.. Ms. Smithey has appeared on and been featured in The New York Times, NBC, healthline, U.S. News & World Report, The Daily Record, The Washington Post, , MSN, Baltimore Business Journal, The Baltimore Sun, Maryland Public Television, The Democrat Star, Law 360, Eye on Annapolis, Law & Crime Network, , Virginia This Morning, Newsmax, Staples Worklife Magazine, America Tonight, NPR, Washington Business Journal, the Capital Gazette, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.. Ms. Smithey regularly advises employees on all matters relating to employment law, including:• Discrimination, including race, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, family responsibilities, and religion• Sexual harassment• Retaliation and reprisal• The Equal Pay Act• Representation of public sector employees• Disability accommodation and discrimination• Medical leave• Wrongful discharge• Workplace privacy• Defamation• Employment contracts and restrictive covenants• ERISA discrimination• Employee and applicant testing• Wage and hour issues• WARN. Ms. Smithey has represented clients in state and federal courts, arbitrations, and before the Department of Labor, state and county commissions on human relations, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She has handled numerous jury trials, appellate oral arguments before the First and Fourth Circuits, bench trials, administrative hearings, and motion hearings. Ms. Smithey is also a trained mediator on workplace issues.. Ms. Smithey has taught seminars and law school courses on employment law topics. She has also published extensively on employment law and civil litigation. She authored the Fourth Edition of Maryland Rules Commentary and is a contributing author to the MSBA Maryland Employment law Deskbook.. Ms. Smithey is a member of the Section Council of the Labor and Employment Law Section of the Maryland State Bar Association, and a member of the Labor and Employment Law Section of the District of Columbia Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. She also served on the Maryland State Bar Association’s Board of Governors and is a member of the Women’s Bar Association of Maryland, the National Employment Lawyers Association, the Maryland Employment Lawyers Association, and the Maryland Association for Justice, in addition to being a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Ms. Smithey also does extensive pro bono work in the area of employment law, including serving on the Employment Law Hotline for the Women’s Law Center and teaching in the Workplace Street Law Program. She has also authored amicus briefs for the National Employment Lawyers Association.. Ms. Smithey received her Juris Doctor from Boston University School of Law where she researched and authored “Housing Discrimination Against People with Mental Disabilities: How does the Fair Housing Amendment Act of 1988 Help Implement the Goals of Deinstitutionalization?” Ms. Smithey received her Bachelor of Arts from Pepperdine University. She is admitted to practice in Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Hampshire, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

As Associate Attorney to the Smithey Law Group, Timothy M. Hartman assists clients in a range of complex labor and employment law issues, including discrimination on the basis of race, age, sex, disability among others. He also handles sexual harassment, wrongful discharge, and retaliation.. Before joining Smithey Law Group, Tim practiced workers compensation defense in Baltimore City where he frequently litigated cases at Maryland administrative courts. He also has experience with the U.S. Small Business Administration as a part of their COVID-19 relief programs, the Board of Veterans Appeals, and as a judicial intern at the U.S. District Court in Greenbelt.. Tim’s work is authentic and client focused. He works tenaciously for individuals victimized by discrimination and workplace misconduct. Compassion is the key driver behind his career in employment law.

Alexus Viegas represents clients in a wide range of complex labor and employment law matters, including: discrimination based on race, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, and disability; harassment; retaliation; FMLA violations and retaliation; federal sector employment; employment disputes involving union rights, unpaid wages, severance agreements, and other employment contractual issues, including noncompete agreements and other restrictive covenants. Alexus has received favorable results for her clients in administrative proceedings, negotiations, and litigation, against a wide range of private and public employers, including federal, state, and local agencies.. Prior to joining Smithey Law Group, Alexus operated her own practice focused on employment law and litigation, while also serving as Of Counsel to an area employment law and litigation practice. She previously worked as a Law Clerk and Attorney for another firm in the D.C. metro area after graduating from law school. Prior to becoming an attorney, Alexus worked as a paralegal for more than a decade, providing her a broad array of knowledge and perspective to the benefit of her clients.

Experienced Labor attorney serving clients in Annapolis and surrounding areas.

Experienced Labor attorney serving clients in Annapolis and surrounding areas.

Experienced Labor attorney serving clients in Annapolis and surrounding areas.

Experienced Labor attorney serving clients in Annapolis and surrounding areas.